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Are Juice Cleanses Actually Effective?

Kenzie Dye
Rachel Johnson
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WVU chapter.

Juice cleanses as a form of resetting the body have been popular for quite some time, but do they really work?

According to The Zoe Report, consuming antioxidant-rich superfoods is undoubtedly beneficial, but the idea that they can course through your body and rid toxins is a bit far fetched. Fresh juices should be treated as a supplement rather than a sustainable diet. 

“The body does not need a juice cleanse to detoxify,” Camilla Haught, dietitian at West Virginia University, said. “Our kidneys, liver and lungs work to rid our body of toxins every day.”

Haught also added that juice cleanses shouldn’t be included in your lifestyle. It’s much better for our bodies to have regular, well-balanced meals daily.

One common belief about juice cleanses is that it’ll make up for bad eating habits. According to Nicole Centeno, CEO of Splendid Spoon, rather than using a juice cleanse out of frustration with yourself for not eating clean, it should be used to get in touch with your unique nutritional needs. Centeno adds that juice-based ones should last no more than 24 hours. 

It is also believed that going on these cleanses is a great way to lose weight. While a person may lose a couple of pounds at the beginning of a cleanse, it’s not a long term solution for weight loss. According to Livescience, the reason for this small weight loss is due to the loss of water. It’s important to keep in mind that weight loss isn’t just about the number that appears on the scale. You’re also looking at the ratio of body fat compared to muscle mass. 

Now, cleanses aren’t totally bad. If done correctly, they can help you feel refreshed while providing health-boosting benefits. The best way to do this is to reframe your mindset by redefining the purpose of a cleanse, finding ways to incorporate it into a healthy lifestyle and thinking of it as a form of self-care.

Haught challenges this argument by saying that a juice-based diet shouldn’t be incorporated into your eating habits at all. It does not supply your body with protein or fats which are essential in an everyday diet. A juice-based diet will leave you feeling exhausted and sluggish and could lead to low blood sugar.

The fact of whether juice cleanses are effective is still up for debate, but it isn’t as harmful if you remember to treat it as an addition to a healthy lifestyle instead of solely depending on it to become healthy.

Kenzie is a senior at West Virginia University from Tornado, West Virginia. She is majoring in advertising and minoring in Appalachian studies and interactive design for media. In addition to being a writer for Her Campus at WVU, she works as a ticketing and marketing intern for the university's Arts and Entertainment department. She also works as a hospitality and tourism intern for Visit Mountaineer Country Convention and Visitors Bureau. Kenzie loves coffee, candles and all things Harry Potter!
Rachel is a graduate student at WVU majoring in journalism with minors in Appalachian studies, history and political science. In addition to writing for Her Campus, she is also a publicity intern for Arts and Entertainment and a news intern for Univerisity Relations. She is from Princeton, West Virginia and loves her state and its beautiful mountains. She is passionate about many things including dogs, musicals and the Mountaineers.